Hey guys, I hope you liked the first chapter. It gets better, I promise. But then again, it depends on what definition you have for better (muahahaha)
Please R&R, my other story (which is my favorite of the two) doesn't get that many reviews, so please review for this one (and read my other one!). Enjoy!
Chapter 2
Order to the Rescue
They all arrived at Number Four, Privet Drive, at once. The place seemed deserted, and this couldn't be good.
"Albus, I don't like this one bit," Lupin and Molly said as one.
"And neither do I," Dumbledore answered, worry and fear obvious in his voice; he tried to keep a calm face and smiled at everyone encouragingly, "but I'm sure everything is fine." McGonagall knew Albus too well to believe that; the others, however, seemed soothed, and started walking towards the door, when all of a sudden Arbella Figg came running out of the Dursleys' house.
"Albus! Thank God!" she hurried over to him trying to catch her breath; running down the stairs and out the door was a lot for someone her age, after all.
"Merlin's beard, are you all right Arbella?" Albus was alarmed now.
"Albus, the boy, they took him! His family left for the weekend, and I heard cracks of Apparition because the kitchen window was open; by the time I got there, the boy was gone!"
McGonagall looked as if she were Stunned; Molly started crying, as Arthur hurried over to comfort her; Lupin was holding Tonks tightly in his arms, while Moody and Shacklebolt both had their wands out at the ready; Dumbledore hurried over to McGonagall and put his arm around her waist. He will not let any Death Eater harm his princess, and right now, he needed his princess as close to him as possible.
"Was Harry's window open? Did you hear anything?" Dumbledore asked urgently.
"Oh yes, I could hear everything; Harry was freezing, I imagine he was freezing to death. This woman cast some spell on him before he could react; he fell to the floor and couldn't move. Then she said something like "portious" or "portsi" and took the boy, and then the rest of the Disapparated. I think I heard them talking about Azkaban last time they were here, but I'm not sure," she finished, hoping this information would be enough to track the boy down.
They were all shocked; finally, Moody grunted, "Last time! What last time!"
"Well, it was about two days ago, two of them were on brooms, and they cast some spell through the open window when the boy had his back turned on them…sounded like Croosho to me, but I have no idea; the boy started twitching and after a long while he passed out. Then his Aunt came in the room so the two Disapparated while on their brooms. His Uncle came in the room and yelled at him for making noise. Obviously the boy couldn't hear him, and when his Uncle saw that he was unconscious, he smiledto himself and left the room, Petunia following him. Harry woke up two minutes later, and though I could tell his body ached, he didn't seem to know what happened so he went to bed."
"Arbella, why didn't you let me know this happened!" Dumbledore roared; he was furious.
"I'm sorry Albus, but I couldn't find a way to contact you! Mundungus hasn't showed up in 4 days and I didn't know how to let you know! But the boy seemed fine, really!"
"Oh, I'll take care of Mundungus all right," Dumbledore said coldly.
"The question is, what do we do now?" McGonagall asked Dumbledore. She cared for Harry as though he was her own son, and was afraid to think of what state he would be in if they didn't hurry.
"We need to go to Azkaban, that's what we need to do!" Moody said, and murmurs of agreement were heard.
"Very well; thank you Arbella, I'll let you know as soon as we find Harry." 'If we find him,' he thought to himself.
Once again, they all Disapparated.
Thousands of miles away, Harry was locked up in a cell in Azkaban. A dozen Dementors were guarding his cell, and he had no chance of fighting them off since Lestrange took his wand. The rest of Azkaban was deserted, since everyone escaped during the summer. He felt drained, worthless and pathetic, and wished she would have killed him rather than bring him here; he already re-lived his worst childhood memories in addition to seeing Cedric and Sirius die over and over again; he no longer had the memories of winning the Quidditch Cup, his friends at Hogwarts, Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons with Lupin, or any other happy memories he used to have; at least, if he had them, he didn't know where they were. He was still sane…just not able to put up a fight.
Suddenly, the door at the beginning of the long hallway in which the cells were located burst open. It was Lestrange and Malfoy; Malfoy ordered the Dementors away, and they both stepped forward.
"Well, well, well! If it isn't The Chosen One, wand-less and overpowered…not so brave without old Dumbledore at your side, are you now?" Malfoy sneered.
Lestrange added playfully, "We're going to play a little game now…how 'bout 'how many times we can hit Potty with Cruciatus' game?" she asked Malfoy.
"Oooh, my favorite! How did you know?" he grinned maliciously.
"Wild guess," she smiled back at him.
"Crucio!" she bellowed.
"Crucio!" she had her want pointed at Harry again, and left the curse on him for a longer time. When she got to ten, they switched, and Malfoy did the same thing. When he reached 20 times, they switched again. And so it went on, ten by ten, that they tortured Harry.
Harry did not know how much longer he could endure this. At first he tried not to scream, not to give any indicated that he was hurt; after the second time, though, he could not bear the pain anymore. It was pain beyond anything else, seemed worse than when Voldemort did it to him in his 4th year; and with every one of those times that the curse was cast on him, it was for a longer time, and if possible, even more painful.
After what seemed like hours, they reached 130 times. Harry was barely alive at this point, but Lestrange and Malfoy were having too much fun; it was like a dream come true to them.
"Bella, we don't want to kill him; Master told us to keep him alive."
"Oh, he'll be alive, Lucius," she replied happily, after reaching the number 140. "I'll let him rest for a minute and then you can keep going."
Harry was relieved. He gathered up all the energy he had left in him and tried to come up with a plan. Thoughts were rushing through his mind; he tried to think of some way, any way, in which he could contact the Order and let them know where he is. Before he could come up with any ideas, Malfoy said in a sweet, almost-Umbridge-like voice, "Time's up!" and started with the Cruciatus again.
They reached 200, and Harry was losing consciousness. He was falling into a long, black tunnel with no end, his body still twitching violently…
Crack
"What was that?" Lestrange asked, turning to face the door.
"Probably Crabbe and Goyle, they said they would join us for the party," Malfoy said, sniggering.
"Aww, but it's no fun doing this when he's not awake. Wake him up!" she cried in a baby-ish tone.
Malfoy mumbled something, and Harry was now barely awake, but enough to feel his body aching again. He was bleeding badly; he felt as if his bones were all cracked in half, as if there was no blood left inside of him anymore. And yet, they kept going.
"Potty, you're going to be a world record now…we're going for 300 times with the Cruciatus, and we're already at 210. What was your record, Bella, 250?" She nodded at him, proud of her accomplishment. "Well, then, look at the bright side, Potter, you're more than half way there!" Malfoy sneered at him. "Crucio!"
Outside, the door, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lupin, Tonks, Molly, Arthur, Moody, and Shacklebolt were listening closely.
"Shh, listen!" Molly said, hushing them up, even though no one was talking.
"Potty, you're going to be a world record now…we're going for 300 times with the Cruciatus, and we're already at 210. What was your record, Bella, 250?" She nodded at him, proud of her accomplishment. "Well, then, look at the bright side, Potter, you're more than half way there!" Malfoy sneered at him. "Crucio!"
And then they heard a scream. It wasn't a scream of fear, or of pain. It was of a 16 year old boy who was wishing to simply die.
"They used the Cruciatus on him over 200 times, Albus!" Molly cried, burying her face into Arthur's shoulder. McGonagall too was crying, Albus was hugging her comfortingly. Lupin and Tonks looked at each other, shocked; Moody said, "I'm surprised he's not dead!"
"He will be if we don't do something about it," hissed Shacklebolt.
Then they heard Lestrange ask, "Where are Crabbe and Goyle? I thought you said they were on their way here!" Malfoy shrugged. "Oh well…here comes 230," she continued.
"Crucio!" she screamed, flicking her wand again.
Dumbledore, followed by the rest, pushed the door open so that it banged with the wall.
Malfoy and Lestrange turned, and a smile appeared on both of their faces.
"Dumbledore…and his groupie…somehow, I expected you to come sooner or later…though I was hoping later, you know, for the burial."
"The only burial will be yours, Malfoy," hissed McGonagall, though she didn't seem so sure of herself. Harry was in a pretty bad state.
"Is that so? Oh, we shall see about that…Crucio!" both Malfoy and Lestrange roared, pointing their wands at Harry again.
The relief that rushed through him when he saw Order members come in disappeared at that second. He screamed, as loud as he could with what energy he had left in him. He wanted it to end, he'd had enough; he wanted to die, he would do it himself I he only had his wand…but then he fell into that long, black tunnel again.
"Harry!" Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lupin, and Molly cried; the rest of them were speechless.
Dumbledore rushed forward, but as soon as he made his first step, Malfoy kicked Harry hard in the stomach; every single inch of his body was now covered in blood, and Malfoy's kick brought him back to consciousness.
"One more step, and this kid goes bye-bye," he said malevolently.
"Dumbledore…leave…worry…me…fine…" Harry tried to say. They needed to leave, if any of them got killed tonight, it would be his fault again. He didn't care what happened to him anymore, as long as the others were safe.
"Fine? Fine, you say? I'll show you fine, boy!"
He kicked and punched Harry, who didn't respond to pain anymore. Lestrange cast the Cruciatus on him once more.
"Don't think we went nice on you," he turned to the Order, "the only reason why we're not attacking is because we have no chance against all of you…but you're welcome to stay and watch."
They couldn't fire Killing Curses at the two Death Eaters—they can't risk hitting Harry—but they had to do something, or Harry would soon be dead, if he wasn't already.
"Stupify!" all eight of them bellowed. Unfortunately, all of them pointed their wands at Malfoy. He was unconscious now, having been hit by eight Stunning curses at once. Lestrange made to grab Harry and Disapparate, but Lupin quickly Stunned her before she could reach Harry.
They all hurried over towards Harry, who was no longer breathing.
